Page 125 of Omega's Flight

"You never used to walk them to the school before," Degan complained as we trooped out onto the porch.

"I do here. And I walk them home too, unless they're going to a friend's to play. We enjoy it, I hear all about their day and if there's a problem, I know about it.” I held up a hand to stop him and sent the pups on down the steps. "Last one to the old oak is a rotten egg!" And we all took off running.

Degan was, of course, the last one to the tree. Henry crowed out, "Da's a rotten egg!" and giggled.

I frowned at Degan, who looked grumpy at being the last one to the tree. He sniffed and muttered, "I didn't know where it was." But his bad humor lightened when Ann reached out and took his hand, chattering brightly about school and her friends and telling him how today was art day and they were going to be making dioramas and how much she loved playing at the modelling clay table during free time.

Pip darted in and out around the houses, bringing me plants and interesting stones and chasing butterflies. None of her cheerful commentary could hide from me, though, that she was avoiding her Da. I'd have to figure out a pathway through this thicket soon.

We dropped Henry off at the daycare. I could almost hear the hum of gossip as we left for the girls' school, but there wasn't anything I could do about that. Degan had gotten quiet, and I couldn't tell if it was the calm before the storm or if he was just overwhelmed with the differences between here and his home.

The school was near the edge of our town, a long low building that looked like a set of barracks and probably had been back in the day. Wooden climbing bars, a seesaw, and a large sandpit made up the playground in the middle of the little field that surrounded it. Other parents had come too, to drop off pups too young to be trusted to go straight to school and get there on time. It hit me then that I was going to have to explain Degan and wasn't that going to be awkward? Ugh.

I saw someone I knew, a young beta female whose first pup was in Ann's class. "Hi, Danielle. How are things? Is Berthe over her sniffles?" I asked, and stopped next to her.

"Mostly. She not wiping her nose on everything around her now, anyway. How are yours doing?" she asked, and eyed Degan curiously.

Might as well bite the medicine branch. "This is Degan. He's the pups' sire." I was careful not to call him my mate and I hoped both he and Danielle caught the lack of possessiveness and understood what it meant.

She offered her neck and he scented her in a rough, inattentive way. Rude.

"Are you going to full moon this month?" I asked, to fill the awkward silence.

"I don't think so. It's so late for the pups and I wouldn't mind a quick run and howl in the back yard, then a nice quiet night at home. Maybe borrow a movie—the Mate brought home a box of new ones last week, and I've put my name in for three, so hopefully one of them will be free that night."

I laughed. "You have to be quick around here, for sure."

Danielle laughed as well. "How's your new neighbor? Is he settling in?"

"Yes, he's fine. We're working on a project together for the pack, but we have to sneak it in between Rose's naps."

"How's she sleeping?"

I grimaced, and laughed. "Better than Henry ever did."

"You should tell him to come up to the new parent meet-ups. I know he's just new and everything, but he should get out some and meet some other bearers."

"I'll mention it to him." I didn't think Ori was ready yet, even after being here a month, but it would be a good idea to lay the groundwork. "I think he just enjoys having his own house."

"Don't we all when we first start out?" she said dryly, then we said our good-byes and she disappeared back toward the center of town.

I turned to leave, but Degan stopped me with a hand on my arm. My heart shot up into my mouth—I guess Holland hadn't erased as much of the emotion around those last days as I'd thought. In a panic, I tore my arm out of his grasp and backed away, ready to run.

"Raleigh," he scolded.

"No, you don't get to talk to me like that," I said, my voice shaking. "We are parents to those pups, but that's all."

"Do you really think they want to keep you? You're okay with being pitied? That's all it is. Pity."

But there I was on solid ground. "No, it isn't. I wouldn't expect you to understand it, but it's not pity. I have to go. You know your way to the garage?" Not that I wanted to walk him there like a pup himself, but it was his first day here.

"We stopped there last night," he said. "Raleigh, it doesn't have to be this way. Did you watch the pups today? Do you really think they're happier with you here and me in Jackson-Jellystone?"

He had a point, but I wasn't ready to concede it. "I have to go, I'm meeting someone."

"Your lover?" he sneered.

"And what if he was?" I said quietly. "Would you still take me back then? Even if the whole world knew I'd given myself willingly to another alpha?" I was tempted to rub it in, how much better Cas was in the bedroom, but some subtle instinct made me hold the words back.